thunderkyss
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2010
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The same can be stated about using cameras with built in light meters rather than teaching the use of hand-held meters. Using a hand held meter allows the photographer to compare brightness of various portions of the image more carefully, and more carefully select the exposure.
What I am arguing though isn't a matter of precision, but function. A handheld spot meter will function the same as an in-camera spot meter, you're not going to learn anything new in particular by using a hand held reflective meter.
Learn to use an incident light meter. With a hand-held reflective meter, move close-in, meter on various objects before composing the shot. Figure the exposure used "in your head". You can go as deep as you want. Nikon F Photomic Bullseye: built-in Coupled Incident light meter. That was nice. The nice thing about Digital- you can take a picture, look at the image and histogram, and make adjustments. Next time you come across a similar situation, remember the scene and the adustment to use. There is nothing wrong with using "P"rogram mode when the situation allows. My first camera was a Minolta H-Matic 9 with a program mode, and metered manual mode. I learned when to take the camera off of "AA" and set manually after getting some pictures back of strongly backlit subjects. Now, 45 years later, dialing in EV corrections with the camera on auto is "Auto" for me.
Is there a thread somewhere, or a tutorial that teaches us how to calculate exposure in our head?
Also, I've been practicing using the built in exposure meter in the camera to determine my settings. While not 100% I think my first shots are closer (& getting closer) to ideal than if I just took a stab at it. Why don't more people suggest using the built in exposure meter?